APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Protesters gathered at Houdini Plaza Friday evening to voice their opposition toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in cities across the U.S.
A vigil was also held for Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this week on the first day of an immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security argues Good attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon while officers were trying to make arrests — calling it “an act of domestic terrorism” — and prompting the ICE agent to open fire in self-defense.
Many Democrats disagree, claiming ICE is tyrannical, executing “murders in cold blood” and fearing the agency is being “used as an anti-civilian force, that it has no accountability at the end of the day.”
Good’s death has sparked a wave of partisan finger-pointing and nationwide anti-ICE protests, including some here in Northeast Wisconsin.
The Democratic Party of Outagamie County, along with seven other groups, hosted Thursday’s protest in Appleton.
Tanner Ziebell with Hate Free Outagamie said the vigil didn’t only mourn Good, but “all other victims of ICE brutality.”
“A lot of people are rightfully very angry with the administration — with the Trump administration, to be clear — with the ICE raids and systematic deportations. So, it’s kind of a coexisting event with bringing people together to try to build something powerful here, to be able to resist whatever may come home and show solidarity with those all across the country,” Ziebell said.
We’re not going to sit back and watch as our family members, our friends, our neighbors are being snatched by masked agents.
Ziebell encouraged those who are interested to get involved with the Democratic Party of Outagamie County, Hate Free Outagamie or another similar organization.
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